Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Rejected
Paragraph: 33
Mandate local authorities through NPPF to assess and plan for M4(3) wheelchair user homes.
Recommendation
We support the Minister for Housing and Homelessness’s call for local authorities to assess their local need for M4(3) wheelchair user standard homes. However, we do not believe that the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) goes far enough to match this ambition. At the next NPPF review, the Government must include an explicit requirement for local authorities to assess the local need for homes at M4(3) wheelchair user standard. The NPPF should also encourage local authorities to include a required minimum percentage of M4(3) standard homes in their local plan, with the precise figure based on their local need assessment. If the Government does not make these changes at the next NPPF review, the Department must set out in writing to us, upon publication of the revised NPPF, how it plans to increase the supply of new homes built to the M4(3) standard to meet the needs of wheelchair users.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government rejects the recommendation to require local authorities to assess local need for M4(3) wheelchair user standard homes, stating it does not intend to require this new data collection due to a commitment to reduce burdensome reporting requirements.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
33
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government · verbatim extract
Rejected
10. This government published the revised National Planning Policy Framework on 12 December 2024. Local needs are community-specific, and that is why our revised Framework makes clear that it is for local authorities to assess the size, types and tenure of housing needed for different groups, including older people and those with disabilities. It also includes changes to promote the delivery of mixed-use sites, including housing designed for specific groups such as older people, and to ensure that local planning authorities are able to prioritise the types of affordable homes their communities need. We are determined to create a more diverse housing market; one that delivers homes quickly and responds to the needs of a range of communities. 11. As we have set out above, we will be setting out our policies on the accessibility of new homes in due course. LUHC Select Committee Report conclusion: We are concerned that most local authorities do not keep a register of the accessibility of their own housing stock, despite some disabled people living in temporary accommodation for years while waiting for accessible social housing.
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